"No noon break’ does not mean no lunch. This was clarified by Civil Service Commissioner chair Francisco T. Duque lll during his surprise visits to some of the agencies in the Cordillera Region last March.

The Civil Service Commission-CAR has been receiving feedbacks from agencies reporting that the CSC requires them not to have their lunch during lunch break.

The "no no lunch break policy’ is prescribed under the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA) of 2OO7 or Republic Act No. 9485 (An Act to Improve the Efficiency in the Delivery of Government Service to the Public by Reducing Bureaucratic

Red Tape and Providing Penalties Thereafter).

"Government offices providing front line services to the public are not allowed to suspend operations during the one-hour noon break," Duque said, adding that agencies should adopt an appropriate working schedule for their employees to ensure continuous service.

For instance, an agency assigns an officer of the day from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m.

rotating all personnel. lt is expected that the officer of the day has eaten lunch

before 12:00 noon or after 1:00 p.m.

The CSC is the lead agency tasked to implement the ARTA. Under ARTA, agencies should set up a public assistance and complaints desk, display their Citizen's Charters, and institute measures to curb fixers/fixing activities.

The public can report ARTA violations to the CSC hotline 932-0111 or text CSC at 0917-TEXTCSC (8398272). *(CSC/PIA CAR)